


Till China and Africa Meet

by hedgerowhag



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Humor, M/M, for anyone who is feeling crappy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-09
Updated: 2016-05-09
Packaged: 2018-06-07 09:22:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6798232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hedgerowhag/pseuds/hedgerowhag
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“What is this?” </p><p>“Ice cream,” says Kylo sitting down opposite Hux at the picnic table. </p><p>“Yes, I can see that. But why the fuck is it blue?” </p><p>“It’s bubble-gum flavoured.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Till China and Africa Meet

**Author's Note:**

> I SHOULD BE DOING UNI WORK WHAT THE FUCK
> 
> EDIT: if anyone notices any very obvious typos, please have mercy; i wrote this in 3 hours during a heatwave

“What is this?”

“Ice cream,” says Kylo sitting down opposite Hux at the picnic table.

“Yes, I can see that. But why the fuck is it _blue_?”

“It’s bubble-gum flavoured.”

“What?” Hux blanches, looking down at the lump of ice cream that is slipping down the pink shovel-like spoon back into the plastic cup.

Setting aside his own soft scoop vanilla ice cream with copious amounts of strawberry syrup, Kylo takes Hux’s spoon and pulls the blue filled cup towards himself.

“It is not natural for food to be blue,” says Hux, pointing aggressively at Kylo. “And besides—.” He doesn’t get to finish as a spoon of blue ice cream is jabbed into his mouth by Kylo. Snapping his teeth around the handle, Hux stares at him murderously.

“You talk too much,” explains Kylo, grinning. As Hux continues to glare at him, the plastic squeaking between his teeth, Kylo casually brushes back his helmet tousled hair, nonchalantly switching attention to his own ice cream.

There is barely a breeze brushing through the pine trees on the sand dusted forest edge. The sky is blue and clear, opening wide like the ocean that hushes over the other side of the sand hills.

It’s a rare weekend without a speckle of rain, replaced by persistent heat that has majority of the public walking in summer clothes and flip-flops.  Kylo had hoped to spend the Saturday annoying Rey, a friend from the garage at which he works, but at the last minute he found out that she was going with her girlfriend on a double date.

Kylo wasn’t sure if it was a lie to just get rid of him but it forced him to change his plans and his only other option was Hux.

They have known each other since they were students and ever since then Kylo stuck to Hux like a tack of sun-heated chewing gum to a shoe (as Hux had once described it). So of course at some point after knowing Hux for almost a decade, Kylo had made a duplicate of Hux’s house key because if he had learned anything from his years a student it is that when Hux overworks himself, he becomes blind and deaf to anything other than the accursed work load.

It proved to be very useful on that very day when Kylo walked into Hux’s house after knocking the tenth time. Inside, he found every curtain pulled closed over the windows and if it wasn’t for the loud wheezing of the laptop, he wouldn’t have discovered Hux sitting on the kitchen floor in front of the open door of the freezer as his laptop protested against the heat.

When Hux looked up at him glassy eyed and dishevelled, Kylo made a split second decision to drag Hux out of the house.

He succeeded, but not without being almost strangled by a laptop charger at least once. Eventually, Kylo forced Hux onto his motorbike and strapped the spare helmet to his head, loose ginger hairs sticking out and blocking his vision.

The moment Hux noticed they were approaching the beach, he almost jumped off the motorbike and tried to scramble back for his house. Kylo sped up just so he wouldn’t be able to do it.

Now they are sat at a picnic table at the edge of the pine forest, away from the carpark filled with lumbering masses of families with squealing children and yapping overheated dogs. Hux is dressed in the first clothes that Kylo was able to throw at him and his hair is greasy and loose, hanging down helplessly no matter how many times he tried to brush it back.

Kylo considers it a victory that after almost a minute of mulling over the spoon in his mouth, Hux pulled over the cup of bubble-gum ice cream and hesitantly began to pick at it.

It’s mid-afternoon and the light is growing golden as the shadows deepen and the air cools. Hux is resting his head against his folded arms, staring out at the shrubs amongst the pines where a magpie squawks and bounces across the sandy forest floor. His lips are stained blue and his eyes are closing.

Underneath the table, Kylo kicks Hux’s ankle. The cool green eyes flicker up at him, pinpoint pupils locking with his.

“We should go to the beach,” Kylo says, propping up his chin with a closed fist, smirking when Hux groans, mushing his face against his forearms (it’s very unlike him and it’s probably the heat).

“I’m not even dressed properly for that,” Hux mutters.

Kylo startles, choking on his laughter. “Dressed for what? We are just gonna go to the beach, not climb a fucking mountain.”

Hux leans back and looks down at his feet – he is wearing something resembling the converse Kylo insisted on being his sole choice of footwear as a student. “I’m going to get sand in my shoes,” he says mournfully.

Kylo snorts as he gets up from the table. “You haven’t seen sunlight in three days, the exercise will do you good. Promise.” He winks.

Grumbling inaudible curses, Hux follows Kylo up one of the hiking trails through the forest edge and out into a flat plane of grasses. As the solid forest ground drops away, the trails sink under sand and walking becomes significantly more difficult.

“I hope you realise that I will burn up under the sun, and I will be in pain for days,” Hux continues to mutter as he struggles behind Kylo. “And it will be all _your_ fault.”

“I will take my chances,” smirks Kylo as they begin the ascent up one of the sand hills. Feet slide and the burn of the sun hits against every inch of exposed skin and heats clothing until it’s unbearable though the evening air has already grown chilled.

Kylo is the first to make it to the top of the hill, slumping down on the sand in the long swaying grass that almost swallows him whole. After the ridge of hills, there is only the flatness of the beach, spattered with shallow pools and rivers painted blue by the sky before the expanse of the ocean begins.

Panting and cursing, Hux clambers to the crest of the hill, standing beside Kylo. Out of the corner of his eye, Kylo sees Hux straighten up and look down onto the beach and instantly the enraged muttering stops. A gust of a strong wind catches over the hills, wavering Hux where he stands but he does not look away.

Standing, Kylo approaches the steep slope of the hill and begins to stumble down it, digging his heels into the stand and catching himself with a free hand to steady himself.

At the foot of the descend, Kylo looks up to see Hux peering down onto him from the hilltop, his arms crossed and expression tense.

“I am not doing that,” calls down Hux.

“Well, you either stay up there or I’m carrying you down.”

There is a breath of a curse and Hux turns away, his red hair is stark against the blue sky, the grey shirt he is wearing pressed against his skin by the wind.

After a moment of deliberation and throwing a glance down at Kylo who is holding his arms outstretched as if in invitation, Hux begins his unsteady accent down the sand slope. He has to halt several times and catch onto the tufts of grass growing from the sand when he stumbles and each time he glares down at smirking Kylo waiting below.

The last three metres of the slope Hux makes down on his ass before abruptly standing up and kicking Kylo in the shins who can’t stop laughing at the sight of the flushed red-head. When Kylo attempts to apologise through his laughter, Hux stalks away, heading with determination towards the open line of the sands.

Still sniggering, Kylo follows him, falling in step with the red-head. “You know, I really can’t tell if you’re blushing or if it’s the sunburn,” notes Kylo, the lopsided smile making itself known.

Halting, Hux glares up at him, flushing deeper as his teeth grind together.

“You’re so delicate,” coos Kylo, nudging Hux’s jaw with his knuckles only to be shrugged away.

“If you are going to use any of this against me,” says Hux. “You should remember that I still have those pictures of when you had those hideous pink streaks in your hair.”

Kylo’s eyes widen. “I-I thought I deleted them all—,” he stutters.

At that Hux grins. “You forgot about the hardcopies,” he replies, beginning to stride again across the sand. “It’s always a good idea to have backup of blackmail.”

Kylo allows Hux to get at least ten feet ahead of him before stalking after him, hands fisted. When Hux turns around and sees him the cocky grin falters and he almost squeaks before picking up the pace and almost running in the other direction. Kylo is right on his heels.

The beach is almost entirely empty and they are running, meandering around the pools of water gathered in the sand and the streams that rush back down to the lapping waves.

Eventually, Hux gets out of breath and stumbles over a piece of drift wood. Kylo catches him around the waist and hoists him up off his feet.

“Let me the fuck down, you menace!” yells Hux as he frantically kicks his legs and pushes away from Kylo with his hands, accidently getting a palm in his face.

“Not until you promise to get rid of the pictures!”  

“That is not fucking fair!” Hux complains, his voice becoming high pitched as Kylo swings him over a pool of water where the sand is covered in slick green slime.

“You promise to get rid of the pictures or I am dropping you into the water.” Hux is now swinging dangerously over the pool, legs flailing and Kylo is grinning into his back.

“Oh shit fuck no!” cries out Hux and then he is scrambling to hold onto Kylo who laughs and swings him up to hold him around his waist and knees.

Then, they are looking at each other, Hux annoyed and flushed while Kylo is smiling at him oafishly. But suddenly Kylo’s smile falters when he notices that Hux’s lips are still stained blue and his red hair is tangled, some loose strands stuck to his forehead and cheeks – flushed.

“Will you let me down now?” Hux asks, shaking Kylo out of his thoughts.

“Not until you promise me that you'll get rid of those pictures,” he insists.

Frowning, Hux nods and then he is brought down to the ground, feet gently set onto the sand.  

Hux rearranges his rumpled clothes and sighs, looking out towards the distant line of the ocean. “Come on, I at least want to see what we came here for.”

The sun has already begun to set as they walk across the beach, the haze of purple drawing across the horizon as the moon appears in the east as a thin sickle of pink. The sun is a disk of bright flaring orange that sets alight the thin lines of sparse clouds.

It takes some time for them to make their way around the stream of waters and the wet lines of sand that swallow up feet in thick gloop of green and grey. When they finally make it to the edge of the ocean, Hux is shivering and horizon has fallen into twilight. In front of them, the waves are lapping in shallow crests of white that crawl up the beach and back.

Shivering, Hux rocks back and forth on his heels, hugging his own arms; he had decided to abandon his sweatshirt with the motorbike because when they had arrived the heat was beyond bearable. Now Kylo wants to rub it in that Hux laughed at him for bringing his jacket, but instead, his takes it off and throws it around Hux’s shoulders, the heavy weight startling him.

There is a faint grumble but Hux wraps the jacket tightly around his shoulders, the collar hiding his flushed face as he sinks into the warmth.

“Have I mentioned that I really hate the sea?” Hux mutters.

“Yeah, yeah you have. Like ten times.”

“It’s so unsanitary; who knows what has been washed up.”

“It’s just seaweed.”

“And the smell!”

Kylo groans.

“It’s putrefying carcasses and trash people have dumped out.”

“Just try and ignore it.”

“I can’t do that. Do you understand that Kylo? All I can smell and see is decaying— Wait. What are you doing?”

Kylo is leaning down towards Hux, eyes half closed. He isn’t sure what he is entirely doing, but it seems to be shutting Hux up.

“Kylo— Ky—!” Hux’s lips are halted with the press of Kylo’s. He can easily lean away, but he doesn’t. Taking it as a sign, Kylo takes hold of the collar of the jacket wrapped around Hux and pulls him forward by it.

Slowly, it seems that Hux is beginning to respond, tilting his head for a better angle. Pressing closer, Kylo licks his lips and tastes the remains of the ice cream and perhaps the taste of the ocean air. He smiles when he feels arms reach up and wrap around his shoulders.

Leaning away, Kylo looks down at Hux who is even more flushed than before, his eyes dazed. “So does this mean that we are— you know.”

Hux startles, but doesn’t let go. “No no no! We are not in a relationship,” he says firmly.

Kylo raises an eyebrow, snorting. “Hux, you do realise that we are already sort of in a relationship.”

“How the— And how did you figure that out?” Hux narrows his eyes, crossing his arms.

“Friends don’t just casually have each other’s house keys.”

“That is just because of convenience.”

“Yeah, you just keep telling yourself that,” Kylo says, nudging Hux’s chin with his knuckles, and then finally allowing himself to take his chin between his fingers to tilt it up and kiss the red-head gently.

Hux glares at him but there is no real anger. “Will you every just stop annoying me?”

“Not till China and Africa meet.” It slips out of Kylo’s mouth before he could stop himself.

“Oh how poetic,” croons Hux but then his eyes widen. “Wait, that’s from a poem, isn’t it?”

Kylo can feel himself flush but he keeps his expression impassive.

“Oh god, it is!” and then Hux is laughing and it’s full bellied and warm.

Before Kylo could argue with him, Hux is catching his face with both of his hands and is pulling Kylo down into another kiss that comes all too easy. Kylo tries to prolong it, but Hux still can’t stop his laughter and he ends up _giggling_ against Kylo’s shoulder.

Eventually, they manage to regather their composure and begin the slow trudge back up the beach. At the top of the sand hills, they briefly pause to look over the sands where the waves slowly creep up and the faint dark figures of ships meander on the horizon of the ocean.

At the carpark Hux shrugs off the jacket and hands it back to Kylo, exchanging it for the sweater he left in the storage compartment of the motorbike.

“Still think that this was a bad idea?” Kylo asks, holding out the spare helmet to Hux.

“Well, it was better than that time you somehow convinced me to stuff a pumpkin full of fireworks and set it alight outside the dormitories,” grumbles Hux as he takes the helmet.

“Oh come on! That was kind of fun.”

“Not when you ended up burning your hands because you decided to pick up the fucking thing when you noticed the grass was beginning to catch fire.” Half of the words are muffled by the helmet being shoved over Hux’s head. His hair is sticking out in all directions in front of his eyes and his cheeks are mushed by the padding. Kylo can’t help but cackle at the sight and poke at the squished cheeks. Hux flips down the tinted visor and crosses his arms.

Putting on his own helmet, Kylo straddles the motorbike, bringing the engine to life. There is a warm press of a body slotting in behind him, arms wrapping securely around his waist and fingers absently running over his stomach.

The headlight flares and the motorbike rumbles through the darkened clutch of the forest, the glow glimmering amongst the pines in the setting warmth of the summer night.

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> and yes it was from [this poem](https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/i-walked-out-one-evening)
> 
> also, it's totally cool to throw bricks at me on [tumblr](http://beeeeebeeee.tumblr.com/)


End file.
